PRO-EU Conservative rebels are taking part in a cross-party effort to keep the UK locked in a post-Brexit customs union with the EU despite the efforts of other Conservatives to unshackle Britain from the Brussels bloc, it has been revealed.

Pro-EU Tories want to keep the UK locked in a post-Brexit customs union with the EU

Their efforts have come despite Theresa May and her Cabinet finally agreeing on a plan for a far-reaching trade deal with the EU following an eight-hour Chequers summit on Thursday.

Mrs May’s Cabinet agreed Britain must not be part of a customs union and that frictionless trade was still possible without one, it has been reported.

But hours after the plan was agreed, former Tory ministers Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan, Jonathan Djanogly and Stephen Hammond signed a cross-party amendment with Labour’s Chuka Umunna to the Government’s trade bill backing a customs union.

Mr Ummuna claimed: “I believe we have a majority in the Commons for it."

Theresa May’s Tory Brexit rebels

Theresa May’s Tory Brexit rebels: The MPs who backed the amendment to the Brexit bill.

One Tory backbencher is reported to have said that as many as 50 Conservatuve MPs were “sympathetic” to the customs union amendment.

The backbencher said: “Anna is playing into Labour’s hands on this.

“It’s a got a lot of support and sympathy, but whether it will get enough signatures is another thing. I don’t think it’s going to get huge traction.”

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Chuka Umunna believes the amendment will get majority backing in the House of Commons

Meanwhile, one senior Conservative source has suggested that Cabinet unity on Brexit achieved at the Chequers summit earlier this week will not last despite how “everyone walked away able to say they got what they wanted”.

One Cabinet minister is reported to have said: “It’s easy to agree on an opening position.

“What happens if that’s rejected is a lot harder, and that’s going to be a far bigger challenge.”

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